Boxer
by T. K. Ryder
Summary: The tragedy of General "Boxer" Arcturus, and the aftermath of the Cloverfield attack on Manhattan. Rated M for violence and language, which is bound to increase later on. Reviews are welcome, as it gets me to write faster.


**Obligatory First Post Author Note: **I, of course, don't own Cloverfield, and this also has some spoiler, and there _will_ be more later in the story. There is also lots of cussing and violence, both of which will be increasing with the later chapters. Nothing too supernatural or any of that going on, and so far, no Cloverfield. This is the story of the aftermath of the Cloverfield attack, not the story of Cloverfield from the monsters point of view or from some other random person's, but the aftermath, namely through the eyes of the fictional General "Boxer" Arcturus. Also, I refer to the monster as "Cloverfield".

Read, review, cry for those who are dead, whatever. All is appreciated.

---

"US Area four-seventy-seven, comin' up," called the helicopter pilot, glancing over his shoulder momentarily to look at the general who was staring blankly out the window upon the devastation.

"We're onto codenames already, are we," asked the general without turning, though the pilot could imagine a disgusted look crossing his weathered visage. "We can't call it Manhattan?"

"Just following regulations, sir. Manhattan coming up, sir."

"Manhattan," said the general, tasting the name upon his lips and staring down at what could readily be described as ruins. "Now that I think about it," he muttered. "This isn't Manhattan anymore…It's US447."

"My thoughts exactly, sir," said the pilot and they reached the helipad and the chopper descended.

---

"General Arcturus is on that chopper," said Lieutenant Richard as the chopper descended. "He's coordinating Hammer Down."

"You not doing it well enough by yourself, Rich?" joked Second Lieutenant Susan.

"Clearly not, what with him and the Repairmen."

"Repairmen?" asked Susan.

"I don't really know," said Richard conspiratorially. "They just kinda _showed up_ last night, told me they were sent from Washington, and they had the info that said they were, and then disappeared into the city. Haven't seen 'em since."

"That's….unusual," muttered Susan, glancing back toward 477.

"Do you even know what's left in there?"

"Not at all," said Richard. "I imagine there's at least a few people riding it out in there, and I'm sure that at least dozens of those little spider fuckers are still in there."

"Those things freak me out," said Susan.

"They freak _everyone_ out."

"So_ very_ true."

---

"Sir, we've landed," said the pilot.

"I noticed," muttered Arcturus, standing up and stretching. For his advanced age, he was fit and lean, but today had been an extremely tiring day. He yawned once and then waited for the pilot to open the door. He did so and Arcturus hopped out, scanning the area immediately around him.

There was action and business in all directions, military personnel running to and fro like bees in a hive. Arcturus's old eyes rested upon two soldiers in Class A's standing still, staring straight at him. Taking the invitation, he strode to the two and held out his hand.

The closer, a tall, broad shouldered man with the look of a tired old man took his first and shook it feebly. Arcturus had run into this before, a person who saw his old face and thought him a fragile old man. They always shook his hand as if he was a senior citizen. He squeezed the man's hand as hard as he could and shook it. The man nearly fell to his knees in pain.

"Always have a firm handshake," said Arcturus, releasing him. "My name is General Arcturus, by the way. You are?"

"Uhh…," said the man, still in pain.

"Speak - up - boy," said Arcturus.

"He's Lieutenant Richard Marks," said the woman behind him. "But he's a bit on the pathetic side and too wounded to speak."

"Good to know," said Arcturus, seeing Marks lift his head up and glare at the woman. "And you are?"

"Second Lieutenant Susan Wilson, sir."

"Nice to meet you, Susan," said Arcturus, extending his hand. She took it and firmly shook it. "That's more like it."

She laughed and said: "It's an honor to meet you, sir. I've heard _so_ much about you."

"Oh have you," asked Arcturus, again glancing down at Richard. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"He'll be fine," said Richard, slowly standing up but still holding his hand and massaging it.

"Yes," said Susan, like a little girl who just found her favorite movie star. "I heard that you have a medal of honor…they call you Boxer."

Arcturus noticeably deflated for a few moments, then perked back up into his cocky swagger. "I've heard the name mentioned once or twice."

"And what's it mean," asked Richard, now back on his feet and looking serious.

"It means I stood on a box and let several refuges pass."

Richard was about to ask again, but Susan's sudden seriousness silenced him. The way Arcturus had said his last statement had an air of finality to it that told Susan he didn't want to talk about it.

"Very good, sir," said Susan. "Would you like to see our facilities or be briefed on what has occurred thus far?"

"I'd like to hear where Cloverfield went."

Richard shuddered, and again Susan stood up to the plate. "It went back into the harbor and out to sea. We have dozens of boats and choppers attempting to tail it."

"And is it working?"

"They still know where it is, if that's what you mean."

"That's exactly what I mean. And where do they expect it is going?"

"Well…," said Susan.

"It stopped and dove," said Richard. "Into the Mariana Trench."

"I see…," said Arcturus in the way of a man who knew more than he was telling. "May I be briefed on what Hammer Down has achieved so far?"

"Of course, sir," said Richard, extending his hand in the opposite direction. "Just off this way." He waited until Arcturus began to walk, Susan following closely beside him, to walk off toward a distant ramshackle building with the distinct look of being set up quickly and while under duress.

Arcturus followed obediently behind Richard, not saying a word. He hated it when people called him Boxer. The building that they walked towards seemed to be a disaster area type of set up, built in the heat of the moment and serving as a temporary headquarters to head the recovery effort. He looked away from the HQ and out upon the wreckage of Manhattan, onto US477. There was no word for it other than disaster. The best, Cloverfield, had destroyed all that humanity had made here, all that they had strove for. Just as he thought this, a woman whose chest had exploded was wheeled by on a stretcher. She had dark, near black hair and a terrible pained expression upon her face.

They said that nature could not be defeated, so was Cloverfield nature? Or was Cloverfield the universe's clever way of showing us that we should not play god? Arcturus didn't know, but he had decided it was his duty to do so. They were near the HQ when Susan asked, "So why'd they send you?"

Arcturus thought about this for several moments, long enough to serve as a thoughtful pause but not long enough to make her think he didn't know the answer. "Because I know Hammer Down."

"What does that mean, sir?"

"It means I've seen it before, coordinated it before."

"Permission to ask where, sir?"

"Denied," said Arcturus. "It would appear that we're here." Before the two, Richard opened up a door and Arcturus strolled in, Susan still only steps behind him. Richard closed the door behind the two.

There was a large table in the center of the packed room with a huge, elevated, topographical map of US477 upon it. All four walls of the building were covered in shelves full of binders and books and jars with unknowable and unthinkable things inside them. Four men in warzone attire stood around the map.

"Are you General Arcturus," asked the man opposite him who had first seen him walk in. He was black and well built, and had a weary expression on his face. He was the man Arcturus would want to talk to.

"I am," said Arcturus.

"Good," said the man. "I'm Colonel Briggs, I've been heading Hammer Down since Cloverfield hit."

"Have you had any sleep today, soldier?"

"Sir?"

"Have you had any sleep since Cloverfield hit, Colonel Briggs?"

"Sir, no, sir."

"Once you get done briefing me, get some rest,"

"But sir-"

"That's an order."

Briggs sighed: "Very good, sir."

"Now," said Arcturus, glancing at the three other men who were now paying him attention. "Tell me what's happened so far."

"We were able to bomb Cloverfield to the ground with a B2, but that wasn't enough. The damn thing got right back up and went back to eating people. We last saw it in Central Park and threw everything we had at it. We were able to drive it away and into the harbor," said Briggs.

"Gutsy," said Arcturus. "But it worked. Good call, Colonel."

"Thank you, sir," said Briggs, a smile flickering across his face. "Well, we knew that Cloverfield was important so we sent as much as we could to follow the thing to…wherever it went, and we began to secure Manhattan."

"US477," said Arcturus. "This isn't Manhattan anymore."

"Yes, sir, US477. We first secured any remaining bridges, and let me tell you that was very few, and began sending in teams to secure air strips and LZs, so that we could evacuate more survivors. Unfortunately, we didn't find many. An unfortunate side-effect of Cloverfield and high explosives.

"Of course, we've managed to now completely sequester US477 from New York, though the city is also being evacuated, as I'm sure you've heard."

"I have," said Arcturus. "So what are your plans for the rest of the city and anything that…may have survived within?"

"We've tried sending in sweeper teams, but those haven't made much progress with the parasites inside, so we've started to clear the perimeter of the island so that we can prevent anything from escaping into the water, sir."

"Good. Is there anything else I should be particularly interested in?"

"Well," said Briggs. "There is the matter of the 'Repairmen'."

"Repairmen?"

"Yes, sir," said Briggs. "Earlier today, after we'd driven Cloverfield out, a team of about a dozen soldiers armed with everything from knives to rifles to bombs to sticks and stones showed up calling themselves Repairmen. They were brought here by a military drop ship and had all the proper warrants from Washington."

Arcturus looked at him, as if slightly confused, but then said: "Do you know anything about them?"

"No, sir," said Briggs.

"Have you received any word from them since?"

"No, sir," said Briggs.

"Get some rest, soldier," said Arcturus.

"Yes, sir," said Briggs, quickly exiting the HQ.

Quietly, Arcturus walked to the topographical map and asked for details as to what progress they had made about surrounding the city. After only one day, the army had taken over a large strip of almost flat land to serve as a main airstrip to bring people in and survivors out, and they had managed to control the entire side of the island that faced the mainland.

Also, they had made it about halfway around each connecting side of the island. The city was dangerous, but the opposite side of US477 was no man's land. At the moment, the army's main objective was to secure the rest of the island and evacuate as many citizens as possible.

"Understood," said Arcturus. "Now, where can we all get some rest?"

The soldier closest to him looked out the window and saw that it was pitch black out by now.

"Well, there's a -," he began, until he was interrupted by a violent siren that was coming from every intercom in the area. Instantly, everyone leaped to attention, Richard pulling Arcturus down and Susan pulling out a pistol. Suddenly, gunfire exploded from about thirty yards to the left, Arcturus glancing out the window.

What he saw shook him. There were six soldiers, five in full war attire, the other in Class A's, standing in formation and holding assault rifles up. The things that leapt through the air at them, however, were monstrous things that looked like bugs, but they were the size of Saint Bernards and had jaws as long as alligators, also lined with teeth from one side to the other. There were five of them.

The closest jumped atop the closest woman and snapped violently at her. She screamed and smashed at it with the butt of her rifle while the other five men tried to hold the other four monstrosities back. One of the men was bit on the arm as he tore the offending beast apart with heavy arms fire.

The other three were killed before they got close enough to attack, and the last was shot off the woman moments later. Immediately after the last beast was dead, men in hazmat suits ran over. The first checked the woman while the other walked toward the bit man. Before anyone could react, the bitten man drew out a pistol and shot himself in the head.

The woman hadn't been bit, but she had been scratched all along her body, and her clothes were almost torn off her body. She stood up wearily and was led off to a medic while the other hazmat officer carried the dead man's body away.

There was silence in the HQ for several minute until Arcturus asked, "What the _fuck_ just happened?!"

Susan and Richard glanced at each other before Richard said, "Those are the parasites, sir."

"Why did he just_kill_ himself?"

"Their bites inject venom," said one of the other officers in the room.

"It makes your stomach explode," muttered Susan, clearly disgusted.

"It makes you…_explode_?!"

"Yes, sir," said Richard wearily.

"And no one thought to tell me this?!"

"It was assumed that you knew," said another Officer.

"There will be no more assuming," said Arcturus. "Tomorrow I want to find a report near my bed that explains everything you know about Cloverfield and these 'parasites', am I understood?"

"Sir, yes, sir," they all said at once.

"Good, now where can I get some rest?"

"I'll show you to it, sir," said one of the officers.


End file.
